+1 on the Sigma 50 1.4. Great image quality, fast AF, and the bokeh is superior to the Canon 1.4 imo (the Sigma has a 9 blade aperture ring and the Canon has 8). Size is relatively small compared to anything else f2.8 or faster.

Pair that up with some high ISO and you can shoot in some pretty dark situations for not a lot of money.

Truth.

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+1 on the Sigma 50 1.4. Great image quality, fast AF, and the bokeh is superior to the Canon 1.4 imo (the Sigma has a 9 blade aperture ring and the Canon has 8). Size is relatively small compared to anything else f2.8 or faster.

Pair that up with some high ISO and you can shoot in some pretty dark situations for not a lot of money.

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trying to decide on a good lens for natural low light situations with limited necessity for a tripod...went to Burning Man and was paralyzed by my 18-250 3.5-6.3 towards dusk...thinking about Canon 85mm 1.8 USM...also considering the 50 mm 1.4...any suggestions?

Set your 18-250 on 50mm for a day and take a whole bunch of shots, and then set it on 85mm for a day and take a whole bunch of shots, including a bunch with people. I have the 100mm f/2.0 (same build as the 85mm) on my 40D and it's quite long to use with people unless you are just looking for headshots. To get half body or full body, you've got to be 1/4 of the way down the block and yelling at them.

The 85mm feels a lot better in hand (build quality, MF ring) and doesn't have some of the issues that the 50mm f/1.4 does. The 50mm f/1.8 is a toy, with pretty good optics. Check out the Sigma 50mm f/1.4, it's huge but has great image quality.

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trying to decide on a good lens for natural low light situations with limited necessity for a tripod...went to Burning Man and was paralyzed by my 18-250 3.5-6.3 towards dusk...thinking about Canon 85mm 1.8 USM...also considering the 50 mm 1.4...any suggestions?

Go for the 50mm 1.4 or 1.8. the wider lens is much more useful and you can crop down to get something more telephoto if you want.

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trying to decide on a good lens for natural low light situations with limited necessity for a tripod...went to Burning Man and was paralyzed by my 18-250 3.5-6.3 towards dusk...thinking about Canon 85mm 1.8 USM...also considering the 50 mm 1.4...any suggestions?

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24-70mm and 70-200 for boxing. Those are the only two lenses that I own, but they are good and they get the job done from shooting ringside to shooting through a cage. I don't own much, but what I do own is good stuff maynard!